Original cast recording of Bourgeois & Maurice’s INSANE ANIMALS to be released on Monday

Photo credit: Drew Forsyth

The original cast recording of brand new musical comedy from cult cabaret duo Bourgeois & Maurice, Insane Animals, is to be released on Monday 1 March across all major music streaming platforms.

The show premiered at HOME, Manchester in March 2020, where it became one of the venue’s best-selling productions to date. This album brings the music from the hit stage show back to life in all its glory.

The story begins in the present day with humanity facing extinction by way of multiple threats, from meteor collision and environmental collapse to desperate old men clinging to power. However, “there is hope”, sing Bourgeois and Maurice…and it lies somewhere in the first story that humans ever wrote down: The Epic of Gilgamesh. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh tells of the relationship between Gilgamesh, a cruel and tyrannical king, and Enkidu, a gentle wild man. The Gods tell Gilgamesh to love Enkidu “like a wife”, making this arguably the world’s first queer love story. When Enkidu is killed by the Gods, Gilgamesh goes on a quest to defeat death and find the secret to eternal life. In Bourgeois & Maurice’s retelling of the story, this quest takes him - and his alien guides - on a time travelling journey to the near-present future where he discovers a strange and terrifying new world of science, technology and transhumanism.

Packed with songs that are satirical, sharp, side-splitting and salty, Insane Animals is an anarchic unravelling of past and present, fact and fiction, life and death. Held together with hairspray.

Directed by Phillip McMahon, the stage show featured an eight-strong cast, with musical direction by the award-winning Victoria Falconer. The performers on the album (which has been partially funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign) include original cast members Lockie Chapman (former member of The Overtones), George Heyworth, Liv Morris, Emer Dineen, Evie Jones and Kayed Mohamed-Mason.

George Heyworth & Liv Morris (Bourgeois & Maurice) said: “Insane Animals is the biggest and most ambitious show we’ve ever been involved with. After 3 years in development, the premiere at HOME in March was beyond our wildest dreams - a result of the incredible team we had working with us. We’re so excited to share all the songs from the show with the world and we can’t wait to get the full production back on its feet when life goes back to being a bit more normal-ish.”   

Whilst COVID-19 has paused future tour plans, the production is set to return. Until then, audiences can enjoy each of the 16 songs from the show in all their glittering, slyly subversive magnificence.  

For more information on Insane Animals and the dynamic duo who created it, please click here.